April 21, 2018

Scheduled time for Public Observing: 9pm – 11pm

Solar System Objects:

The Moon: will be 38° high in the West at 10pm, and 40% illuminated (Waxing Crescent phase, 6.5 days old). The major maria, or “seas”, are labeled below. For a sense of scale, Mare Crisium is 345 miles across, roughly the size of New Mexico. Also try looking for the triple crater formation of Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina; each crater is about 60 miles across.

Planets: Jupiter will be rising in the SE, but won’t be above the 20 degree limit for observation with the 20″ refractor (18° up at 11pm. It may be viewed earlier if any telescopes are set up outside the observatory). Just in case, the positions of it’s major satellites at 11pm are shown below.

Deep-Sky Objects:

Observation of faint deep-sky objects is limited from Middletown because of light pollution, but a few of the brightest are usually visible, especially if the sky has good transparency. One example is the globular cluster M3 in the constellation Canes Venatici. Also, there are always a few double or multiple stars that could be viewed.

Man-made Objects:

International Space Station (ISS): Unfortunately, the ISS will not be visible tonight from CT.